County Meath

County Meath (Contae na Mí in Irish) is a county in the Republic of Ireland, often informally called The Royal County. The de facto county town is Navan, where the county hall and government is located, although Trim has a historical significance, including the location of the circuit court, Norman castle and Anglo-Norman parliament. Meath is also home to Kells, with its round tower and monastic past, and Slane, known both for its castle, and annual rock concert.

Meath (the "middle") was once a province of Ireland in its own right - see Kings of Mide - but now forms part of Leinster. Historically this province of Meath included all of the current county as well as all of Westmeath and parts of Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Longford, Louth and Offaly. The High King of Ireland sat at Tara in Meath. The archaeological complex of Brú na Bóinne, including the 5,000-year-old burial site Newgrange, in the northeast of the county, is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.

Geography

Rivers Boyne and Blackwater
16 km of coastline with the Irish Sea
Bordered by Irish Sea and counties Cavan, Fingal, Kildare, Louth, Monaghan, Offaly and Westmeath

Economy

Farming (cattle, potatoes, grain), although this is decreasing in importance

An increasing proportion of Meath residents commute into Dublin, with a resulting shift to a services based economy in the developing dormitory towns.

Population Change

The population in Co. Meath has been characterised since 1861 as a period of significant decline in population between 1861 and 1901 when the population was almost halved (110,373 to 67,497), stablisation from 1901 to 1971(67,497 to 71,729), and an explosion in population since then which has seen the population almost double between 1971 to 2002 from 71,729 to 134,005.

This population growth has seen divergent trends emerge in recent years, with mild depopulation in the north and west of the county being more than offset by large increases in the population of the eastern part of the county, principally due to overspill from Dublin. The county is considered part of the "Greater Dublin Area".

Population by census in Co. Meath since 1861:

1861: 110,373
1871: 95,558
1881: 87,469
1891: 76,987
1901: 67,497
1911: 65,091
1926: 62,969
1936: 61,405
1946: 66,232
1961: 65,122
1971: 71,729
1981: 95,419
1991: 105,370
2002: 134,005

Towns and villages

Towns

Villages

Politics

Fianna Fáil has held three seats out of five in the Meath constituency since 1987. Fine Gael has won the other two seats at each in four of the five general elections in that period, with the exception of 1992, when it lost a seat to Labour (which was regained in 1997). Due to the increase in the county's population Meath will return six deputies to the Dáil from the next general election (due 2007), and has been divided into two constituencies: Meath East and Meath West (which incorporates some parts of County Westmeath).

Currently (January 2006) the five Dáil deputies (TD's) for the Meath constitency are:

Johnny Brady (Fianna Fáil),
Noel Dempsey (Fianna Fáil),
Damien English (Fine Gael),
Shane McEntee (Fine Gael),
Mary Wallace (Fianna Fáil).

McEntee won a by-election in 2005 caused by the resignation of the former Taoiseach, John Bruton (Fine Gael) on his appointment as the European Union Ambassador to the USA. Fianna Fáil controlled Meath County Council from 1985 until 1991 and again from 1999 to 2004. The current composition of Meath County Council (elected 2004) is as follows:

Fianna Fáil 12,
Fine Gael 9,
Sinn Féin 2,
Labour 1,
Green Party 1,
Independents 4.

Source